A 23-year-old entrepreneur on 'Shark Tank' just convinced Robert Herjavec to invest $100,000 in gross-looking fruits and veggies

Hungry Harvest CEO Evan
Lutz on the set of "Shark Tank" in season
seven.ABC

Most entrepreneurs who appear on "Shark Tank" take pains to make
sure their products look as appealing as possible.

Evan Lutz, on the other hand, took pride in showing off some of
the ugliest inventory he could find.

The 23-year-old from Baltimore, Maryland, is the cofounder and
CEO of Hungry
Harvest, a business built on selling "ugly" — but perfectly
edible — produce that would otherwise get discarded. For every
box it sells, the company donates a box to the hungry.

On the latest episode of "Shark Tank," which aired Friday night,
Lutz approached the sharks looking for $50,000 for a 5% stake in
his company. He ended up making a deal with Robert Herjavec, who
invested $100,000 for 10% equity.

As Lutz explained on "Shark Tank," he's aiming to solve two
growing problems at the same time: hunger and food waste in the
US. One-sixth of the American population goes hungry, Lutz said.

At the same time, according to the National
Resource Defense Council, a whopping 40% of food in the US is
never eaten. That's partly because supermarkets don't sell (and
customers don't buy) produce that's misshapen or discolored, even
though it's generally fine to eat.

Hungry Harvest purchases surplus produce from local farms and
wholesalers. Boxes of ugly produce range from $15 to $55 a week
(depending on size) and include leafy greens, vegetables, fruits,
and sometimes seasoning.

The company is but one example of an increasing number of
businesses across the US that aim to reduce food waste by
marketing ugly produce that would typically get thrown in the
trash.

A sample of produce delivered through Hungry
Harvest.Hungry
Harvest

In their first six months, Hungry Harvest had $37,000 in sales;
in the last six months, they've had $104,000. Just over 500
customers currently have subscriptions.

Right now, however, the company isn't profitable, and they've had
a net loss of about $20,000 — a fact that caused alarm among some
of the sharks.

On "Shark Tank," Barbara Corcoran criticized Lutz for being too
"in love with the idea" and not "greedy" enough to be the kind of
businessperson she'd want to partner with.

Herjavec jumped in with an offer, which Lutz nearly lost because
he was waiting to hear from Kevin O'Leary. After a few seconds of
deliberation, and after some cajoling from the other sharks, he
moved to accept Herjavec's deal.